Empowering Digital Storytellers: The Evolution of Mobile Photography through vivo's Lens

SHENZHEN, China, April 3, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- In an era where digital storytelling is integral to our daily lives, global smartphone maker vivo champions the belief that everyone holds the potential to be a creator. The company has been at the forefront of the transformation of smartphones into powerful tools for creativity and professional-grade photography. Making great photography accessible to everyone, to all creators, regardless of their skills or knowledge, to capture high-quality images and videos on their smartphones is a testament to vivo's commitment to empowering creativity in everyday life.

From the renowned X series flagships to V series portrait-powerhouse smartphones, vivo's advanced imaging technologies are designed to deliver rich and diverse visual expressions. With each iteration, vivo brings professional-grade imaging capabilities to capture breathtaking landscapes or precious moments with stunning visuals.

A Look into vivo's Imaging Evolution

vivo's relentless pursuit to make professional-level photography more accessible can be traced back to its very beginnings. Focusing on night photography, portraits, motion stabilization, zoom, and video capabilities, vivo has consistently pushed boundaries guided by a deep understanding of consumer needs and bolstered by groundbreaking software and hardware technologies.

vivo is the company that introduced the industry-leading Gimbal Camera System, modeled after a full-size professional gimbal, rethinking how smartphones handle image stabilization. This system allowed users to experience shake-free capture without using an external gimbal, setting the stage for powerful night and low-light photography.

Continuing its innovation streak, vivo introduced the V1 chip, its first dedicated ISP chip, further elevating its technological prowess. The chip allowed for noise reduction and smoother visuals using AI, ensuring uncompromised image quality even in low light. Introduced globally with X70 series for the first time, vivo has continued to improve this dedicated chip with every new generation.

vivo and ZEISS: A Partnership Rooted in Innovation

vivo's mission to empower all creators with professional imaging capabilities took a significant step forward in 2020 when the company entered a strategic partnership with ZEISS, a global leader in optics and optoelectronics.

This collaboration was built with the long-term strategic intention to play to each other's strengths and further advance mobile photography technology. This includes the establishment of the vivo ZEISS Imaging Lab, a joint R&D program made to innovate mobile imaging technology for vivo's flagship smartphones.

The partnership began in 2020, and it was clear from the start that this collaboration was not simply a matter of combining two brands or about utilizing a single technology. Instead, it was made to be a deep and comprehensive joint R&D effort that would require long-term commitment on both sides.

The joint R&D efforts have already resulted in several key features that have improved the mobile imaging experience for users. One example is the ZEISS Biotar Style Bokeh. Developed by ZEISS in the mid-1930s, the Biotar lens is known by photographers for its unique swirly bokeh. Thanks to the joint efforts by vivo and ZEISS, this iconic bokeh effect is now also available on vivo smartphones, allowing all photography enthusiasts to work with this popular style.

With the rapid development of multimedia and short videos, vivo recognizes that users' demand for videography is growing substantially. The joint success of the collaboration between vivo and ZEISS in cinematic lenses have allowed the companies to develop lens features that can recreate the characteristics of iconic ZEISS lenses in software, resulting in stylistic effects that give any video a movie-like feel. With this co-engineering effort with ZEISS, vivo aims to equip users with all the tools they need to capture and edit professional-looking videos right from their smartphones.

With a shared goal of creating premium technology and cutting-edge designs, vivo's strong understanding of consumer preferences and ZEISS' optical innovations can push for the high-quality development of mobile imaging technology that is best for consumers. The partnership continues to expand in new directions, such as exploring new lens materials, optical design, and optical simulations to bring more professional photography experiences to everyday life.

The partnership recently expanded to vivo's V series smartphones for the first time with the launch of the new V30 Pro. Most known for its powerful portrait photography features and innovative Color, Material, and Finish (CMF) designs, the software and hardware innovations of V30 Pro allow creators to experience exceptional professional photography outside its flagship line. By setting a new benchmark in mobile imaging, vivo strengthens its commitment to believing that everyone can be a professional portrait creator.

Setting a New Standard for Mobile Portrait Photography with V30 Pro

The newest upgrades of V30 Pro best showcase the complementary expertise of vivo and ZEISS.

The rear camera module of vivo V30 Pro features the ZEISS Triple Main Camera, which includes a 50 MP Professional Portrait Camera, a 50 MP AF Ultra Wide-Angle Camera, and a 50 MP VCS True Color Main Camera. Each camera meets ZEISS Optics standards, ensuring top-level quality.

V30 Pro is the first smartphone with a 50 MP Professional Portrait Camera. Featuring a focal length of 50 mm, it can deliver portraits that are exceptionally vivid to closely align with the human eye's natural viewpoint. V30 Pro boasts four times the pixel count of the previous 12 MP portrait camera on V29 and features 2x zoom, ensuring the capturing of excellent portrait quality with exceptional clarity from a distance.

In another V series' first, the 50 MP AF Ultra Wide-Angle Camera is equipped with Auto Focus that boasts 6.25 times the pixel count of any ordinary 8 MP wide-angle camera. It redefines the wide-angle experience with its 119-degree[1] Ultra Wide-Angle Perspective that is perfect for group photos.

Complete with the 50 MP vivo VCS True Color Main Camera, V30 Pro features a vivo-exclusive Camera-Bionic Spectrum (VCS) that can enhance image clarity and color reproduction to increasingly resemble closer to what the human eye can see. Boasting a 1/1.49″ sensor, the largest in its series, the camera is also supported by Optical Image Stabilization, protecting users from shakiness and low-light conditions at night.

vivo and ZEISS together decided to incorporate selected co-engineered features into V30 Pro, thereby elevating its portrait photography capabilities to a new level. Like in X series, users can now experience the iconic ZEISS Style Portraits for the first time on V series, too. Inspired by the renowned ZEISS lenses, V30 Pro features six distinct portrait bokeh styles: ZEISS Biotar, Sonnar, Planar, Distagon, Cinematic Style Bokeh and ZEISS Cine-flare Portrait. This gives the opportunity for creators to freely express their creativity and deliver vivid portraits best suited for their style.

Creators can also showcase their inner cinephiles with the integration of the ZEISS Cinematic Video Bokeh. The ZEISS Cinematic Video Bokeh includes a unique aspect ratio of 2.39:1 for a more prominent look and feel with AI-based depth calculations for a natural bokeh effect.

In post-production, users can also customize their color profiles using the vivo Color System. One option, the ZEISS Natural color, is designed to restore the colors of the image in their most authentic form -- ideal for professional users who prefer flexibility while editing.

In addition to its co-engineering with ZEISS, vivo is also investing into its own R&D to create innovative new features for users. Distinct to V29 series, V30 Pro introduces a smarter lighting solution for studio-like portrait lighting on the go. The upgraded Aura Light Portrait feature, designed to capture high-quality shots in portrait photography, offers softer but more powerful lighting by creating a light-emitting area 19 times larger and 50 times softer compared to the standard flash.[2] With vivo V30 Pro, users can capture clear portraits even at night. What's more, V30 Pro features supporting software that can intelligently adjust the lighting temperature based on its surroundings. The Smart Color Temperature Adjustment can prevent issues such as color casting and blurring by intelligently adjusting color temperature. Distance-Sensitive Lighting means that V30 Pro can adjust the brightness level of Aura Light based on the subject's distance in real time with centimeter-level precision. vivo V30 Pro also ensures consistent fill light effect on the face, regardless of the shooting distance.

As a leading technology brand, vivo's relentless pursuit of imaging excellence and its strategic partnerships are not just setting new standards in mobile photography, but also opening up possibilities for the future. This commitment to innovation ensures that no matter where technology trends take us, vivo will continue to deliver imaging technology that better serves its users.

About vivo

vivo is a technology company that creates great products based on a design-driven value, with smart devices and intelligent services as its core. The company aims to build a bridge between humans and the digital world. Through unique creativity, vivo provides users with an increasingly convenient mobile and digital life. Following the company's core values, which include Benfen,* user-orientation, design-driven value, continuous learning and team spirit, vivo has implemented a sustainable development strategy with the vision of developing into a healthier, more sustainable world-class corporation.

While bringing together and developing the best local talents to deliver excellence, vivo is supported by a network of R&D centers in Shenzhen, Dongguan, Nanjing, Beijing, Hangzhou, Shanghai and Xi'an, focusing on the development of state-of-the-art consumer technologies, including 5G, artificial intelligence, industrial design, imaging system and other up-and-coming technologies. vivo has also set up an intelligent manufacturing network (including those authorized by vivo), with an annual production capacity of nearly 200 million smartphones. As of now, vivo has branched out its sales network across more than 60 countries and regions, and is loved by more than 400 million users worldwide.

*"Benfen" is a term describing the attitude on doing the right things and doing things right – which is the ideal description of vivo's mission to create value for society.

Stay informed of latest vivo news at https://www.vivo.com/en/about-vivo/news